TORONTO - A new study says First Nations adults who develop Type 2 diabetes do so more than a decade earlier than non-native people, and have double the risk of going on to develop kidney failure.
The study, which looked at Type 2 diabetes cases in Saskatchewan, found that the mean age for developing diabetes among First Nations people was 47.
The mean age at which non-aboriginal people develop Type 2 diabetes was 61 years old.
Diabetes and high blood pressure are common causes of kidney disease, which can lead to end-stage renal failure after years of progressive decline in kidney function.
The study's authors say that because First Nations people develop diabetes at a younger age, they are more likely to get to the point where they develop renal failure.
They found that end-stage disease occurred in 2.4 per cent of First Nations people who had diabetes, compared to less than one per cent in non-aboriginal people with diabetes.
